Packaging



Aug. 31, 1965 R. RElN 3,203,54I

. PAGKAGING Filed Nov. 2. 1962 Www |||||m|||| 46 2524) j, i L1 L 34 43 t W mu INVENTOR R|CHRD B. RE|N BYWVM.

TTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,20`3,54`1 PA'CKA'GING Richard B. Rein, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Smith Kline & French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed lNov. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 235,009' 1 'Claim. (fCl. 206-42) 'llhis invention .pertains generally to the lield of packaging, and particularly to receptaoles capable of being fa'brica-ted from cardboard ror .other paper product, or from a plastic, or .other suitable material. The invention pert'ains more .particularly to a receptacle comprised of two elements hin-ged on one edge, e.g. .by cut scoring or crease scoring, 'said elements having scalloped inner edges which overla'p one :another to form pockets when said elements are in ;tolded position. The .resulting receptacle with the articles to be packaged po-sitioned 'within said pookets may now be encased in a wrapiper or envel-ope of rany 'desired type.

Two element receptacles of |this 'general Character are known in the art, but are of an entirely different configuration in that the pockets are formed by fpunohing or otherwise |cutting material Ifrom each of said elements to -form void spaces .or windows Itherein which when said elements are in `folded position fall into alignment to constitute said 'po-ckets.

The material thus .cut away in the ifiorrnation of the void spaces or windows its useless for other purposes and goes into scrap. T'his .represents a loss of considerable significance moneywise, particularly when such receptacles are made in Ilarge quantity which is frequently the case. Moreover, the problems inheren-t in rather large scale waste -disposal are invol'ved, one of which is the cost .of labor in collecting and handling of such rwaste.

A feature of the invention resides in a receptacle of a configuration such that the desired pockets 'are .provided without loss of material in aifording the same.

A further feature of the invention resides in .the production of a plurality of receptacles with minimum increase in consum'ption of material over that required to produce a .single recep'tacle having cut out voids .or windows.

Additional features 'off the invention will become apparent to .persons skilled in 'the art as the specification proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings 'in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view illii'strating the .production in accordance 'with the yinvention of .two receptacles 'wi-thout loss of material 'for aifording pockets;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a receptacle of the invention in open position with objects inserted;

FIGU'RE 3 is a plan lview of the receptacle of FIGU'RE 2 in closed position with objects inserted; and

'FIG'U'RE 4 is a penspeotive View i'lflustra'ting the en- `caseinent of a closed receptacle in a wrapper.

Referring now more particularly to 'FIGURE 1, at 111 isshown a sheet .of material from which .two receptacles are to be made, without loss of material in affording the desired pockets.

'For 'better illustration, receptacle 12 is .shown shaded, and receptacle 13 without shading.

To produce re'ceptacles '12 and 1'3, .Sheet 11 is cut all the way through by any suitable means along each of the full lines .shown within its borders. lOtherwise considered, these lines may be regarded as a single line having a straight .portion 1'4, a .straight portion 15 at a right angle .to portion 14, a 'wavy portion 16 form-img scallops 17 and 18 on receptacles 12 and .13, respectively, a straight .portion 21, a straight port'ion .2'2 at -a right angle to portion 21, a straight portion 23 at a right angle to ICC portion 22, a wavy portion 24 forming scal-lops 25 and 26 on receptael-es 12 and 1'3, respect-ivley, a straight portion 27, and finally, a straight .porti-on .28 at a 'right angle to portion 27.

Usually, but not neces'sarily, diagonal corners 31 and 32, shown in dotted lines, are cut away so as to bring edge 33 'on receptacle 1'3 iu alignment with its edge 34 resulting from Cutting along line portion 27, and so as to bring edge 35 on receptacle 12 in ailignrnent with its edge 36 resulting from cutting along line .pontion 15. T'he result is that when receptacle .113 is in folded position, edge 33 will be flu'sh with edge 34, and likewise vwhen re'ceptacle 12 is in folded position, edge 35 will be flush 'with edge 66.

`In addition and to facilitate folding, receptacle 12 is usually provided, depending upon the thickness of Sheet 1-1, with either a .crease .score or a cut score 41, shown for convenience in a dotted line, between its elements 42 and 43, and receptacle 13 with a 'similar .score 44, also shown for convenience in a dotted line, between its eleiments 45 and 46.

Thus receptacle 12 may be regarded as being hinged at 41, and receptacle 13 at 44.

Crease scori-ng and cut scoring are terms well known in the art, the result of crease scoring being a crease which is sufficien't for hinging in the case of lighter weight sheets, -whereas the result of -cut s'coring is a severance of the material of the Sheet part way therethrough which is more convenient for hing'ing in lthe |case 'of heavier 'weight rigid .sheets.

The Cutting along the full lines shown in FIGURE 1 and the scoring along dotted lines 41 and 44 may be done by hand with any suitable tool :or tools such as a knife, scissors, and/.or the hand tools empl-o-yed in the ca'rving of Wood or the tooling of leather. 'In large seale pro-duction, however, this is done by starmping with a die made to cut and score respectively in accordance with the above description, .the construction -and operation of 'which will become so alppa'rent to persons Skil-led in the art upon becoming familiar with the invention .as not to require furt'her description. Por convenience yin 'fur- .ther description, scoring will be considered as being alpplied to the upper falce of sheet l111 as seen in FlGU'R'E 1.

Thus, a method has 'been provided for making packaging receptacles wherein a sheet of material, e.g. sheet 11 as seen in FIGUR'E 1, is cut intermediate at borders along a pair :of laterailly lspaced wavy lines, e.g. lines 16 and 24, to produce contiguous scallops along each said wavy line, e.g. scalloips 17 and '18 along line 16, and scalloips 25 and 26 along line 24; the :scallops produ'ced by cutting along one .said wavy line, e.g. line 16, being in general alignme-nt transversely of said wavy lines, i.e. vertically as seen in FIGURE 1, with lthe `scal'lops produced by cutting along the 'other of said wavy lines, e.g. line 24; cutting said sheet intermediate its borders along a third line, i.e. line 22, positioned laterally to and intermediately of said .wavy lines; one end of said lthird line cutting connected by cutting, eg. along line 2'1, to the adjacent end, e.g. the right end as seen in FIGUR'E 1, of one of said wavy lines, e.g. .line 16; the other end .of said third line cutting connected by cutting, e.g. along line 23, to the ad'jacent end, eg. vthe left end as seen .in FlG-U'RE '1, of 'the other of said 'wavy lines, eng. line 24; Cutting along a fount'h line, e.g. line 14, spaced laterally outward'ly from one of said 'wavy lines, e.g. line 16, from .the edge of said Sheet, e.g. 'the right edge of sheet 11 as seen in F'IGURE 1 adjacent the connection, e.g. by cutting along line 2'1, .of said third line cutting With .an end of said last-men-t-ioned wavy line; said fourth line Cutting .terminating short of the opposite edge of said sheet, eg. the lefft edge o'f sheet 111 as seen in F'IGUR'E 1, and connected by cutting, e.g. along line 15, to the other end of said laistmentioned wavy line; and cutting along a fifth l-ine, e.g. line 28, spaced laterally outwardly from the other of said wavy lines, eg. line 24, from the edge of said s-heet, eg. the left edge of sheet 11 as seen in FIG- URE 1, adjacent the connection, e.g. by cutting along line 23, of said third line With an end of said last-mentioned wavy line, said fifith line cutting .terminating short of the opposite edge of said sheet, eg. the right edge of sheet 1'11 as seen in 'FIGURE 1, and connected by cutting, eg. along line 27, to the other end of said lastmentioned wavy line. 'In addition, scoring along dotted lines 41 and 44 is p'referable, as is the elimination of the diagonal corners 31 and 32 for re'asons above given.

`In FIGURE 2, receptacle 12 is shown separated from receiptacle 13, with its lower face in FIGURE 1 becoming its upper face in FIGURE 2. This puts score 41 to the 'real' in `'FIGURE 2.

It Will be seen from F'IGURE 2 that elements 42 and 43 a're similarly shaped, and that they m-ight in fact be made identical, although this is by no means essential. Each .consists of laterailly spaced members 51 and 52, the former having scallops on its inner edge projecting toward the latter, members 51 and 52 being joined by an end bar 54. To form the receptacle, the outer longitudinal edge of the scalloped members of 51 of one element is hinged to the `outer longitudinal edge of the nonscalloped member 52 of the other element. As seen in FIGURE 2, it 1Will be noted -that member 51 of element 43 is hinged on its outer edge at 41 to the outer edge of member 52 of element 42.

When packaging relatively small objects, such as capsules, ampoules, pills and the like, it 'is convenient, although not strictly essen'tial, to encase them between thin sheets of material with the objects so spaced as to fit into the pockets. -This is illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 wherein capsules 55 are positioned in pookets 56 (FIGU'RE 3) by virtue of being encased in ap-propriate spaced relation in transparent encasement 57 shown crinkled 'at 58.

To close receptacle 12 from its open position as seen in FIGURE 2, its element 42 is brought forward and down onto its element 43 as illustra-ted in FIGURE 3, wherein it will be noted that the scallops on element 42 overlap the scallops on element 43 to complete the formation of 'pockets 56 in which capsules 55 are visible due lto the transparent character of encasement 57, the latter being engaged between pockets 56 by the overlapping scallops.

Receptacle 12 may be held in closed position by any suitable means, such as by a small piece of adhesive tape binding its free edges together, but for large scale merchandizing it is preferable to encase the receptaole in a suitable wrapiper, such as open-ended Wrapper 61 shown in FIGURE 4 with receptaole 12 partially inserted therein endwise. It is also preferable to provide wrapper 61 With a cut out or window 62 through which, When the receptacle is fully inserted, one of the capsules, or other object being packaged, may be seen.

While receptacle 12 (and the same applies to receptacle 13) has been shown as having three pockets, it is to be understood that any number of pockets may be provided, that is one or more.

Also while encasing the objects in spaced relation, such 'as in an encaserncnt 57, is preferred, the object or objects may be individually inserted in the pocket or pockets and held in position by any other means, such as by wrapper 61, Vwindow 62, if employed, being such a's not to permit loss.

A'lso while scoring to provide a hinge is preferred, the hinge may be provided by other means, such as by a strip of tape overlapp-ing the adjoining edgcs of the two elements.

Then too, the periphery of the receptacle, With its elements hinged together, may have any other configuration than that afforded by straight lines as will be obvious to persons skil'led in the art upon becoming familiar with the invention.

Also, while a bar 54 for joining members 51 and 52 (or their equivalent) at only one of the adjaeent ends thereof has been shown 'and described, a similar bar may also be provided at the other of their adjacent ends, if desired for any reason.

Then too, while the `material from which the receptacles are made is gcnerally fiat on both sides, and may be of any desired thickness, deviation is permissible, particularly for decorative 01' other punposes, such as embossing an outer surface or sunfaces of the -receptacle, or an even an inner surface or surfaces.

Therefore, it is to be understood that the above particular description is by way of illustration and not of limitation, and that changes, omissions, additions, substitutions and/or other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the claim, the various features of patentable novelty residing in the invent-ion.

What is .claimed is:

A packaging receptacle comprising two elements connected together in folding arrangements, each said element having a pair of laterally spaced members joincd together and a sca'lloped edge defining a plurality of scallops on one of said members projecting toward the other of said members in the space therebetween, the connection between said elements being by hinging means comprising a score joining the outer longitud'inal edge of the scalloped edge member of one element |to the outer longitudinal edge o-f the other member of the other element, and the longitudinal arrangement of said elements relative to each other and the position of the scallops thereon being such that the scallops of one element over- =lap the scalilops of the other element When said receptacle -is in closed position thereby forming a plurality of spaced 'object receiving pockets between the overlapping scallops, a thin flat encasement positioned between the elements of said receptacle when in closed position, a plurality of objects vwithin said encasement, said encasement holding said objects in spaced relation conforming to the spacing between the pockets in said receptacle with said objects positioned in said po'ckets, and an open-ended `Wrapper enclosing the receptacle.

References Cited by the Examincr UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,050,270 8/36 Burnham 206--42 2,589,168 3/52 Vassar 206-56 2,687,`Z1'1 8/54 Sparks 206 42 F'RANKLIIN T. GARRE'IT, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Examiner. 

